Middle East - Voice of Americahttp://www.voanews.com/archive/middle-east/latest/594/598.html
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en2016 - VOA60Fri, 09 Dec 2016 10:33:57 -0500Pangea CMS – VOAReport: Cairo Blast Kills 6 Police Officers, Injures 3Egypt's state-run news agency says an explosion in Cairo has killed six police and wounded another three.
MENA says the explosion took place early Friday on Pyramids road, the main avenue leading from the city center out to the Giza pyramids. It says the blast targeted security forces, without elaborating on what caused the explosion. Reuters reported that the bomb was placed in a trash can and there was no immediate claim of responsibility. Four civilians were also...http://www.voanews.com/a/report-cairo-blast-kills-police-officers/3629497.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/report-cairo-blast-kills-police-officers/3629497.htmlFri, 09 Dec 2016 05:06:47 -0500Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)Official: 50,000 Islamic State Fighters Killed in Syria, IraqThe U.S.-led coalition has killed an estimated 50,000 Islamic State fighters since President Barack Obama first ordered military action against the group in August 2014, according to a senior military official.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters the number was considered a "conservative estimate."
A second senior official told VOA the 50,000 were killed specifically in Syria and Iraq, and did not include the total number of IS fighters killed in...http://www.voanews.com/a/official-tens-of-thousands-islamic-state-fighters-killed-syria-iraq/3628799.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/official-tens-of-thousands-islamic-state-fighters-killed-syria-iraq/3628799.htmlThu, 08 Dec 2016 17:00:53 -0500Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Carla Babb)http://www.voanews.com/a/official-tens-of-thousands-islamic-state-fighters-killed-syria-iraq/3628799.html#relatedInfoContainerUS Repatriates Ancient Artifacts to EgyptA mummy’s hand disguised as a science fiction movie prop is one of several artifacts that U.S. Customs officials have returned to Egypt as part of a crackdown on illegal smuggling and sales of antiquities, dubbed "Operation Mummy's Curse" by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“While we recognize that cultural property, art and antiquities are assigned a dollar value in the marketplace, the cultural and symbolic worth of these Egyptian treasures far surpasses...http://www.voanews.com/a/us-repatriates-ancient-artifacts-to-egypt/3628652.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/us-repatriates-ancient-artifacts-to-egypt/3628652.htmlThu, 08 Dec 2016 15:30:26 -0500Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Cecily Hilleary)http://www.voanews.com/a/us-repatriates-ancient-artifacts-to-egypt/3628652.html#relatedInfoContainerIS Calls for Attacks on US Bases in Uneasy Island of BahrainThe Islamic State group is calling on its followers to launch attacks in Bahrain, including those targeting American military personnel stationed on the tiny island ahead of a visit by the U.S. defense secretary.
The appeal for violence came in a video that also urges militants to attack the Sunni-ruled island's Shiite majority amid a wider government crackdown on dissent there.
The slickly produced video surfaced as IS propaganda has waned as the extremists continue to lose...http://www.voanews.com/a/is-calls-for-attacks-on-us-bases-in-uneasy-island-of-bahrain/3628302.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/is-calls-for-attacks-on-us-bases-in-uneasy-island-of-bahrain/3628302.htmlThu, 08 Dec 2016 10:50:03 -0500Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)Russia: All Military Operations Halted in AleppoRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the Syrian government has stopped all active military operations in eastern Aleppo in advance of a meeting between U.S. and Russian military experts on the situation in the devastated city.
Earlier Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he was "hopeful" about a potential cease-fire agreement with Russia to end fighting in Aleppo.
After meeting with Lavrov on Thursday in Hamburg, Kerry told reporters he was still waiting...http://www.voanews.com/a/syrian-president-says-victory-within-grasp-in-aleppo/3628006.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/syrian-president-says-victory-within-grasp-in-aleppo/3628006.htmlThu, 08 Dec 2016 07:25:05 -0500Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)http://www.voanews.com/a/syrian-president-says-victory-within-grasp-in-aleppo/3628006.html#relatedInfoContainerRussia: ‘We Are Close’ to Deal With US on AleppoRussia and the United States are close to reaching an understanding on Syria’s Aleppo, the Interfax news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying Thursday.
“In the past several days an intensive document exchange on the situation in Aleppo has taken place,” Ryabkov was quoted as saying.
“We are close to reaching an understanding, but I want to warn against high expectations,” Ryabkov added.
The Syrian government and its ally Russia have rejected...http://www.voanews.com/a/russis-us-close-to-deal-on-aleppo/3627930.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/russis-us-close-to-deal-on-aleppo/3627930.htmlThu, 08 Dec 2016 03:17:17 -0500Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)Israel Police: Knife-wielding Palestinian Shot and KilledIsraeli police say security forces have shot and killed a knife-wielding Palestinian at a West Bank junction.
Police spokeswoman Luba Samri says an 18-year-old Palestinian disembarked from a bus at the Tapuach Junction, north of Jerusalem, and approached border policemen stationed there in a suspicious manner on Thursday.
She says when the policemen asked him to halt, he pulled out a knife and charged toward them. They then opened fire, killing him.
The incident is the latest in a...http://www.voanews.com/a/ap-israel-police-knife-wielding-palestinian-shot-and-killed/3627933.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/ap-israel-police-knife-wielding-palestinian-shot-and-killed/3627933.htmlThu, 08 Dec 2016 02:58:06 -0500Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)Emaciated Yemeni Woman Now Smiles but Recovery PatchyImages of 18-year-old Saida Ahmad Baghili's emaciated body shocked the world and turned a spotlight on the worsening humanitarian crisis across war-torn Yemen.
Now, after weeks of specialist hospital care in the capital Sanaa, though she can still barely speak and sometimes finds eating more difficult than ever, she can at least smile.
Nearly two years of war between a Saudi-led Arab coalition and the Iran-allied Houthi movement has deepened the plight of Baghili's family and...http://www.voanews.com/a/emaciated-yemen-woman-now-smiles-but-recovery-patchy/3627831.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/emaciated-yemen-woman-now-smiles-but-recovery-patchy/3627831.htmlWed, 07 Dec 2016 20:45:03 -0500Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)http://www.voanews.com/a/emaciated-yemen-woman-now-smiles-but-recovery-patchy/3627831.html#relatedInfoContainerEgypt's Beekeepers Under Threat as Economy SlumpsEgypt's beekeepers say their hives are under threat because of a shortage of sugar, as are the flowers and crops that their bees pollinate.
Sugar became hard to find in recent months after the government took control of stocks. It sought to counter what it said was an epidemic of hoarding by merchants reacting to rising prices as a result of a shortage of foreign currency.
Bees are fed sugar to tide them over the winter and to compensate for honey harvested from their...http://www.voanews.com/a/egypt-beekeepers-under-threat/3627823.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/egypt-beekeepers-under-threat/3627823.htmlWed, 07 Dec 2016 20:20:17 -0500Economywebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)Israel's Netanyahu Gives Conditional 'No' to Meeting Abbas in ParisIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that he had told French President Francois Hollande he would not meet Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas if France pushed ahead with an international peace conference in Paris later this month.
France has been trying to convince Netanyahu, who has repeatedly rejected the conference proposal, to meet with Abbas in Paris to try to revive moribund peace talks between the two sides, Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on...http://www.voanews.com/a/netanyahu-abbas-france-peace-conference/3627798.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/netanyahu-abbas-france-peace-conference/3627798.htmlWed, 07 Dec 2016 19:50:59 -0500Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)Coalition Targets Islamic State Fighters in Mosul HospitalThe U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria intentionally struck a hospital in Mosul Wednesday to protect Iraqi forces from Islamic State fighters inside the building.
The coalition said Iraqi forces requested “immediate support” after receiving heavy machine gun fire and rocket-propelled grenade fire from IS forces in a building at the Al Salem hospital complex.
It is unclear how many casualties resulted from the strike.
Islamic State had been using...http://www.voanews.com/a/mosul-hospital-strike-islamic-state-iraqi-forces/3627340.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/mosul-hospital-strike-islamic-state-iraqi-forces/3627340.htmlWed, 07 Dec 2016 18:45:36 -0500Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Carla Babb)http://www.voanews.com/a/mosul-hospital-strike-islamic-state-iraqi-forces/3627340.html#relatedInfoContainerIn West Bank, Fatah Vote Shows Politics an Old Man's GameThe recent conference of the ruling Fatah party sent a disheartening message to young Palestinians: Most of those elected to top positions were in their 60s and 70s, signaling that politics under octogenarian President Mahmoud Abbas is an old man's game and that it is unlikely that fresh ideas on winning statehood will emerge from this group of veteran loyalists.
Apathy seems widespread among educated Palestinians in their 20s and 30s. Many have given up on trying to break into what...http://www.voanews.com/a/west-bank-fatah-party-president-abbas-palestine/3627318.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/west-bank-fatah-party-president-abbas-palestine/3627318.htmlWed, 07 Dec 2016 18:15:47 -0500Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)2 Top IS Commanders Reportedly Flee RaqqaThe Islamic State group is seeing some defections in its leadership in Syria as two senior commanders have fled in recent days to territory held by rebels fighting the Syrian regime, local sources and a monitoring group said.
Two high-ranking commanders of Tunisian origin and some close followers with Egyptian backgrounds left the Syrian city of Raqqa, Islamic State's de facto capital, and headed to the rebel-held city of Idlib, in northwestern Syria, according to reports on the...http://www.voanews.com/a/two-top-islamic-state-commanders-flee-raqqa/3627238.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/two-top-islamic-state-commanders-flee-raqqa/3627238.htmlWed, 07 Dec 2016 16:22:16 -0500Extremism Watchwebdesk@voanews.com (Sirwan Kajjo)Iran Tops Agenda at Gulf Cooperation Council in BahrainArab Gulf countries wrapped up a two-day summit in Bahrain's capital, Manama, Wednesday, after discussing major regional concerns that included Iran, Yemen, Syria and Iraq.
King Hamad of Bahrain sounded a cheerful note, in his final remarks to the 37th annual summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The king thanked his fellow Gulf leaders for attending, along with British Prime Minister Theresa May, for her presence.
Prime Minister May addressed the summit at the final session,...http://www.voanews.com/a/gulf-cooperation-council-summit-king-hamad-iran/3627069.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/gulf-cooperation-council-summit-king-hamad-iran/3627069.htmlWed, 07 Dec 2016 15:07:31 -0500Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Edward Yeranian)http://www.voanews.com/a/gulf-cooperation-council-summit-king-hamad-iran/3627069.html#relatedInfoContainerRefugee Story: IS Increasingly Desperate as Iraqi Army Moves ForwardIn Mosul neighborhoods adjacent to areas controlled by Islamic State, the call to prayer from the militants’ mosques can be heard clearly.
So too, can increasingly desperate IS threats, says Ibrahim Inaimy, who was a farmer before the militants took over the city. Since then, like many of the people fleeing IS territories, he has been unemployed.
“Daesh knows this camp,” he says, using the Arabic acronym for IS, an insult to the militant group. “They used mosque...http://www.voanews.com/a/iraq-islamic-state-mosul/3626988.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/iraq-islamic-state-mosul/3626988.htmlWed, 07 Dec 2016 14:33:34 -0500Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Heather Murdock)Calls Increasing for Immediate Cease-fire in AleppoA coalition of nations, led by the United States, called for an immediate cease-fire in Aleppo and condemned Russia for interfering with attempts to bring humanitarian aid to those civilians trapped in the Syrian city.
"Aleppo is being subjected to daily bombings and artillery attacks by the Syrian regime, supported by Russia and Iran. Hospitals and schools have not been spared. Rather, they appear to be the targets of attack in an attempt to wear people down. The images of dying...http://www.voanews.com/a/increasing-calls-for-immediate-ceasefire-in-aleppo/3626766.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/increasing-calls-for-immediate-ceasefire-in-aleppo/3626766.htmlWed, 07 Dec 2016 11:26:47 -0500Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)http://www.voanews.com/a/increasing-calls-for-immediate-ceasefire-in-aleppo/3626766.html#relatedInfoContainerNew Ideas Help Construction Efforts in MideastBecause of wars, poor planning and lack of funds, much of the Arab world suffers from a severe housing shortage. To jumpstart the construction industry, innovators are testing new approaches, from using previously discarded materials to employing robots. VOA’s George Putic reports.http://www.voanews.com/a/3626222.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/3626222.htmlWed, 07 Dec 2016 00:37:00 -0500Silicon Valley & Technologyhttp://www.voanews.com/a/3626222.html#relatedInfoContainerYemen Says UN Road Map to End Conflict Sets 'Dangerous Precedent'Yemen on Tuesday appeared to reject a U.N. plan to end its civil war, saying the road map would create a “dangerous international precedent” by legitimizing the rebellion against the country's internationally recognized government.
Yemen's position deals a major setback to international efforts to end the 20-month conflict, which has unleashed a humanitarian disaster and killed more than 10,000 people.
A December 6 letter to the Security Council from Yemen's U.N. mission,...http://www.voanews.com/a/yemen-rejects-united-nations-end-civil-war/3626157.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/yemen-rejects-united-nations-end-civil-war/3626157.htmlTue, 06 Dec 2016 22:00:44 -0500Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)Rescued Yazidi Women Relate the Horror of Captivity Under ISThe Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq has mounted costly rescues of women and girls kidnapped by Islamic State militants, spending tens of thousands of dollars to fund the operations. Upon their return, however, many women say they feel emotionally and physically devastated.
Rescued late last month, Bahar tells a story of another grandmother who, like herself, was held by Islamic State militants for more than two years.
The woman, Bahar says, complained and was beaten...http://www.voanews.com/a/rescued-yazidi-women-relate-horror-captivity-islamic-state/3625428.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/rescued-yazidi-women-relate-horror-captivity-islamic-state/3625428.htmlTue, 06 Dec 2016 21:00:54 -0500Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Heather Murdock)http://www.voanews.com/a/rescued-yazidi-women-relate-horror-captivity-islamic-state/3625428.html#relatedInfoContainerIran's Proxy Activities Probed on Capitol HillIran's destabilizing actions across the Middle East constitute a security threat that rivals that of Tehran's nuclear ambitions, Republican and Democratic U.S. senators said Tuesday.
"Iranian proxies remain a direct threat to the United States and our allies today," said the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Republican Bob Corker of Tennessee, pointing to Lebanese Hezbollah, Shia militias in Iraq, and Houthi insurgents operating from Yemen, as well as...http://www.voanews.com/a/iran-proxy-activities-probed-capitol-hill/3625639.html
http://www.voanews.com/a/iran-proxy-activities-probed-capitol-hill/3625639.htmlTue, 06 Dec 2016 18:15:19 -0500USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Michael Bowman)http://www.voanews.com/a/iran-proxy-activities-probed-capitol-hill/3625639.html#relatedInfoContainer